RAMALLAH, Sunday, July 9, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers who shoot Palestinians on suspicion of carrying out attacks on Israeli targets will no longer have their weapons confiscated by police, hard-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced last night.
The new policy change is intended to encourage settlers to bear arms and use them, according to Israeli Channel 12, as part of Ben-Gvir’s larger efforts to ensure a greater number of armed Israelis on the streets who are ready to kill Palestinians.
Previously, Israeli settlers who shot Palestinians would have their weapons confiscated by police at the scene as a precaution.
The policy change also means that in the event that a suspected attack occurs and an Israeli settler shoots the attacker, the weapon will not be confiscated. Both the police and the minister approved the decision to implement this new policy.
Though the change in procedures is intended to encourage settlers not to hesitate to act in case of an attack, the Israeli network noted that there are concerns it could also loosen trigger fingers.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory.”
